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Chipotle Black Bean, Millet and Quinoa Burritos

I am always up for a culinary challenge and so I eagerly accepted an offer to try a few products from Snazzy Gourmet. The idea was to test a small sample of their offerings, come up with a recipe using some or all of the goods I received and write a short review of the products.

If Snazzy Gourmet were a local store I'm sure it would be on my list of rounds often. It would be quite the sight to see shelves and shelves stocked with their selection of almost 500 natural and organic foods — olive oils, vinegars, pastas, sauces, soups, grains, spices and seasonings, jams, snacks, and all kinds of other products. Like the name implies, all their items are top-quality gourmet products from high-end food companies, and usually with a pretty snazzy design too. Unable to browse the aisles filled with glamourous bottles, jars and packages of goodness, I miss out on that sensuous experience cooks always enjoy when physically surrounded by objects of culinary inspiration, but it's an online store and all of those tempting foods are just a click away.

The Santa Fe Pilaf is a mixture of seasoned quinoa, millet, black beans and dehydrated vegetables. I always cook with dried legumes and I was pleasantly surprised how delicious the pilaf mixture that included the dehydrated ingredients turned out. The seasoning was well-balanced and in 25 minutes you have a balanced pot of protein and starches.

The Mesa Rosa Chipotle Southwestern Smoky blend was particularly appealing to my spicy palate. I used it even before incorporating it into my dish. It adds a nice spicy kick to sauces, marinades, salad dressings, eggs, soups and any other types of foods or dishes that benefit from the unique smoky kick of chipotle.

The B.R Cohn olive oil has a light refreshing flavour that makes it especially suited for salads, vegetables, dips and sauces or even as a dipping oil for your favorite crusty breads.

Now for my recipe where I really got a chance to evaluate the goods. As you can imagine, the selection of products that I used for my dish are perfectly suited to Mexican cuisine though all three products could be used to inspire a multitude of culinary creations.

Chipotle Black Bean, Millet and Quinoa Burritos

Recipe by Lisa Turner
Cuisine: Mexican
Published on September 11, 2012

Spicy and filling burritos stuffed with a seasoned black bean, quinoa and millet pilaf and covered with a chipotle sour cream sauce

Begin by preparing the Santa Fe Pilaf blend. Bring 3 cups of vegetable stock or water to a boil in a medium saucepan, pour in the contents of the package, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand uncovered for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and transfer to a large bowl and let cool.

Meanwhile, in separate bowl soak the dried chipotle peppers, dried mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes in hot water for 20 to 30 minutes. Drain and chop each separately, taking care to finely chop the chipotle peppers.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and stir for 10 minutes or until softened. Now add the red chilies, spices and chopped chipotle peppers. Stir for 1 minute. Turn up the heat slightly and add the fresh mushrooms to the pan. Stir for 8 minutes or until the mushrooms have begun to soften and turn brown. Add the chopped dried mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes, stir for another minute or so. and remove from the heat.

Add the contents of the skillet to the cooked pilaf. Add the tomatoes, olives, avocados, lime juice, tamari sauce if using, chipotle spice blend, salt and pepper, and gently toss to combine. Taste for seasoning and for texture, and add olive oil or more chipotle spice blend, salt or pepper as desired.

Make the chipotle sour cream sauce by whisking together the sour cream, lime juice and chipotle spice blend in a small bowl. Whisk in salt and pepper to taste if desired.

To assemble the burritos, scoop a few generous tablespoons of the pilaf mixture into the middle of a tortilla, sprinkle some of the grated Cheddar cheese over the filling if using, and wrap. Continue until you have the number of desired burritos. Serve with chipotle sour cream sauce and garnished with jalapeño rounds.

Refrigerate leftover burrito filling for up to 3 days.

Makes 8 servings

Notes: The measures presented here are approximate and easily adjusted to suit your preferences and serving needs. You can halve the recipe for a more manageable portion or double it if you are serving a crowd. Tone down the heat or turn it up a notch or two. Include other ingredients in your wraps, such as fresh lettuce, corn, cucumber or whatever else strikes your fancy. The dried chipotle peppers, dried mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes may be considered optional.

Warm the tortillas before filling if desired. And finally, a word of caution: be VERY careful with dried chipotle peppers if you are using them. They are HOT, so you want to be sparing with them, especially when you are including other spices, as I did for this recipe.

GIVEAWAY: And now a treat for my readers. Snazzy gourmet is willing to send all three of the products I used in my dish to a random winner. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post, perhaps with a suggestion of what you might make with some or all of the products I received. If you enjoy my blog, please do visit and like my facebook page. Please note the contest is only open to residents of the US and Canada. If you do not have a blog, please leave your email address along with your comment so I can contact you should you be the lucky winner. The contest will run until September 30th and I will choose a random winner the day after the contest ends.

13 comments:

Your recipe sounds so yummy! I think I would go with a southwestern style vegetarian chili. I love chipotle in chili, and the quinoa in the blend would add a nice texture. Olive oil for sauteing the onions, peppers, zucchini first!

Great idea using those products to make burritos! Enchiladas and tacos would probably work well with the santa fe mix too...there are so many sauces and condiments on the Snazzy Gourmet site that I would love to try too!

Based in London, Ontario, a veteran vegetarian for 23 years serves up a collection of delicious culinary creations from her kitchen, with an emphasis on spicy Indian dishes and whole foods. If you want to know what sensible vegetarians eat, Lisa's Kitchen is the place to be.